In the Name of the King
by Arrow-of-Mirkwood
Summary: Book of One-rewritten. Two girls fall into the world of King Arthur-but not the movie, the one of legends, they must journey through the land picking up companions on their way as they fight to return home. Fate has played her hand, the question is, can they survive it?
1. The Lady of the Lake

The world is full of magic; we just don't see it anymore. We've put those thoughts aside, safely into the box labelled 'childish dreams'. We have moved on to more important things; the real world calling, and now we can only laugh at children's naivety, no longer able to see what they see. We are closed off by times betrayal-growing up. We look at magic without ever seeing it. This is a story of when sometimes, just sometimes, magic looks back.

* * *

_Fate wasn't happy. Not happy at all. She'd lost the last game, and look how that had turned out. She wasn't ready to lose again. Weak creatures, those mortals, but engaging. Maybe that's how they'd survived so long._

_Fate carefully set the chess board in place. "Best of three?" _

_And death smiled._

* * *

It began with the rain.

In England it always rains, however unlike many people, I've always loved the rain, loved listening to it as I fall asleep and dancing in the rain when it pours. That day it was raining so hard I could barely see a metre ahead; I stood sodden and well and truly locked out.

I and my friend Evie were staying in Whales in Lynn Ogwen cottage, by a nearby lake. It was a lonely area; the nearest town was well out of sight. The landscape was rough and untamed, and that was how we liked it. We were only staying there three days for a short holiday, and on our second day we decided to brave the outside regardless of the raging weather and attempt climbing up the rocky hills to explore the lake that our accommodation was named after. We had been told that a castle stood isolated among the rugged hills, overlooking the water; therefore our main goal before we left was to take a tour of the ruins.

Unfortunately due to the tumultuous rain the castle was closed for the day leaving us in our current miserable state; this was not rain for dancing in, but the type you watched from inside with a hot chocolate.

My thoughts were broken as Evie emerged from a nearby overhang frowning, 'It's no use, there's clearly no-one here so we might as well go back to the cottage'.

The rain soon had us running, slipping and sliding through the mud, we sprinted over the next rise and were suddenly falling over a sharp drop above an expanse of water. We might have made it still if Evie had stopped one step sooner, but as it was she plunged helplessly into the lake below, disappearing from sight in the rain. I slipped in the sodden mud and quickly followed her into the lake, my foot catching on something and I was quickly pulled under. To this day I cannot be sure if whatever caught my leg were simply riverweeds or a cool hand grabbing my ankle.

As to complete the strangeness of it all as the water closed over my head I thought I heard a voice in my ears whispering 'Nikita'; whispering my name.

* * *

Readable? Should I continue?


	2. Another Time

**Another Time**

* * *

I surfaced further away from the shore than I expected and kicked out hard, trying to look for Evie however the rain was too torrential. Upon dragging myself to shore I saw Evie already there, I dragged myself ashore to be frantically patted on the back as I coughed up half the lake.

"That was smart" I wheezed before looking around, "let's get back, I think we both need a hot shower and a Milo before we get sick". She nodded in agreement and together we began making our way up the hill that would lead us to shelter. As Evie reached the top of the hill, she suddenly stopped, causing me to bump into her.

I looked over the ridge, and then stopped, looking again. I kept blinking, waiting for the image in front of me to change, but it didn't.

The cottage where we had been staying was gone, no trace of it or any other type of civilization remained.

"What..." I managed to voice. Ludicrously I wondered if the heavy rain had washed it away.

"Where is it?" Evie whispered.

Slowly we walked down the hill trying to wrap our heads around this completely unexpected mystery.

"Perhaps we went in the wrong direction?" Evie mumbled, and I shook my head; I wasn't good with directions but it had been a direct walk from the cottage to the lake, it would have been almost impossible to get lost on the way.

"Perhaps we should go back to the castle, the rain has stopped now and perhaps one of the guides will have some idea of what has happened."

With no better plan in mind, I agreed and we set off back the way we came. A path that I had never noticed before wound its way over the hill, so we followed it almost without noticing. It was only once we had passed the lake and gone over another hill that the second shock hit us; where there had been nothing only half an hour before, now stood a busting village.

We came to a standstill, simply staring at it in shock; it was like no village we had ever seen.

"It looks almost medieval" Evie whispered, neither of us knowing how right her words were. We stood some distance from the village looking down at it, the 'village' was made up of one muddy unpaved road, on either side sat small, rectangular long houses made of wood with thatched roofs and chimneys. In the centre was some kind of clearing, a larger house sat in the middle, and people were walking back and forth around it, many of them standing at small makeshift stalls, a market of some kind?

"I think something happened when we fell in the water" Evie said, looking at me seriously.

"Did you hear a voice?" I blurted out, and she looked at me frowning. "I don't know, I thought I heard...something."

I suddenly felt very small and lost, my eyes suddenly filling with tears as I realised something was terribly wrong. "What do we do?" I asked.

Evie continued staring at the village, "go down there and ask where we are?"

We began to walk down the hill slowly, as if trying to put off the inevitable. "If they say something strange, let's just go along with it, there's no point them realising we aren't from around here, they might become hostile." Evie murmured; the reality of what had happened had yet to sink in; the words remained unspoken, _if they said they were from another time._


	3. The Realization

**The Realization**

* * *

_Wisdom watched the two carefully. "I wish you'd stop meddling in their affairs"_

_Death shrugged, "Why? It's fun."_

"_They're not pawns to pick up and disregard as you wish."_

"_That's exactly what they are" argued Death._

_Fate moved her knight forwards. "The board is set. Let the game begin"_

* * *

We approached the person nearest to us, an elderly woman behind a ramshackle stall full of cabbages. The smell down in the village was phenomenal, like nothing I had ever come across; regardless, we held our noses trying not to gag and came to a stop in front of the woman. She eyed us distrustfully, clutching her ragged kirtle as if we were going to try and take it from her.

"What do you want?" she asked, her voice was strangely accented, and there was an oddness about the way she formed her words, but thankfully we could understand her.

"Could you tell me where we are?" Evie asked carefully.

The woman stared, "Carneddan of course." She told us as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

I blinked. So we were in the same place, and yet it looked so different. It was Evie that said it; the idea was tugging at the edges of my consciousness, tantalising elusive at the corners of my brain, but it was not something I would have said for a long while-I was too logical to consider it.

"And what date is it exactly?" Evie asked, causing me to stop and look at her strangely, my heart rate accelerating oddly.

Now the elderly women was looking at us as if we were truly mad, "It is the eleventh year of King Arthur's reign."

That's when things began to fall apart. At first we just gaped at her, wordless, then without speaking I turned and wandering a short distance away, dazed. Evie followed me.

"What the _hell _is going on?" I shrieked, everything was different and couldn't understand why.

Evie gestured helplessly, "I don't know! I don't understand!" then she stopped suddenly thoughtful, "maybe this is one of those conventions, where everyone dresses up and pretends to be from a different era?"

I shrugged, "why would our house be gone? It doesn't make any sense at all!" I was angry but I didn't know why, I just wanted to reach out and hit something until everything turned back to normal; it was an anger born out of fear, because the only other alternative was to run away screaming, find a dark hole and cry into it until everything became normal. Tempting as it was, I knew better.

"You don't think..." Evie trailed off, unable to actually the voice the thought out loud.

I knew exactly what she was going to say, as I was thinking the same thought. "How? How could falling into a lake do this? We aren't in Narnia you know!" my voice grew louder without me meaning it to, I was getting angry again.

Evie shushed me; we were already getting strange enough looks from the townsfolk, I didn't want to exacerbate their distrust of us anymore than I already had, so I quietened.

"What are we going to _do_?" I asked, my voice wobbling.

We stood in contemplation for another minute, when the idea struck me. Of course it was me that came up with the idea so ludicrous I could barely voice it out loud. Instead I suddenly felt the urge to hysterically giggle.

Evie must have noticed the change of expression on my face, because she grabbed my ar. "What!"

"I have an idea. But it's ridiculous. I'm beginning to think this is a hallucination brought on from being caught out in the rain, but regardless, what if it was the lake?"

"And?" Evie asked, not following.

"Well let's just say that this isn't some crazy dream, and there's something strange about that lake. Surely we just have to jump back into it and everything will go back to normal?" It wasn't one of my most brilliant ideas, but it was all we had.

We turned around and trotted back up the hill, hyper-aware of the stares of the townsfolk, but ignoring them all the same.

We came to a halt in front of the lake and stared at it. The cold looking water glistened back at me uncaringly.

"This is such as bad idea" I mumbled.

Evie shrugged and without another moments notice, jumped in the lake, I followed a minute later, and that was how I found myself surfacing from an icy cold lake gasping for breath, for the second time that day.

* * *

Just as a point to make, you have to remember that if King Arthur did exist, it was earlier than the Medieval Ages, more like the Dark Ages, so the things I'm describing may seem a little strange, it's because they are from an earlier time.


	4. A New Companion

**Chapter Four: A New Companion  
**

* * *

It hadn't worked. No hand grasping me, no whispered words, and I knew as we slowly made our way towards the place where our cottage had been, that there would still be no trace of it.

It wasn't until we came to a standstill, shivering in the chilly air that I suddenly got the feeling that we were being watched. I glanced around but could see no-one so I said nothing, simply turned to Evie dispiritedly and asked, "now what?"

"We need to work out what's going on, let's just sit down and work it out logically." Although there was nothing logical about what was happening, I agreed, maybe we could work something out.

We sat cross-legged on the damp grass and tried to think logically. "It was raining" I began and Evie finished my sentence for me "everything went strange when we fell in the lake..."

"So we agree it was the lake?"

Evie nodded. I wondered if the lake water had hallucinogenic properties, but dismissed the thought. Firstly, we would have heard about it, and secondly, how can an entire lake be spiked with something? It was too implausible, not that the alternative was any more logical.

"We have to face it Nikita. It has to be some kind of portal, a black hole or something that happened to open as we fell in and then closed after us." It was a very loosely scientific explanation, but it was better than the ones that I had, which ranged from 'there was something strange in our breakfast' to 'we must be dead.'

"Alright, let's say for a moment that's true, we are stuck in the Dark Ages surrounded by people who think King Arthur is king, and we have no idea when the portal will open again, or if it will even open in the same location!" I was becoming hysterical again.

"We have to find another way back." Which was easier said than done really, but I admired Evie's determination.

I don't know how long we would have sat like that, debating on our course of action, had Tarren not come across us.

The first I knew of it was when Evie let out of small squeak of shock, and I turned to see a large man slowly walking towards us. He had a shock of wild dark red hair plaited in a Celtic knot, paired with a short red beard, he was sturdily built, and clearly not someone to mess with. The thing that drew my attention to him most however, was his attire. He appeared to have a course woollen tunic on, and leather boots of some sort, and a sword strapped to his waist; if this wasn't disturbing enough, it was the giant battle axe swung across his back that caught my eye.

I was completely out of my depth; did he mean to kill us? There was no anger on his face, only curiosity, but my gaze drifted again and again to his deadly looking weapons.

"Are you lost?" He asked us, in an accent that reminded me of the Irish.

"Yes" It was Evie that answered of course. The large man's eyebrows drew together as he frowned, "where do you hail from?" He asked us, and I felt my heart begin to beat faster in sheer nervousness.

"Far away...We are trying to get back home, but it's very far away." Evie interjected quickly and nervously.

"Where are you husbands or fathers? Travelling companions?" The man asked in confusion.

I wanted to sink into the ground; all we would do was dig ourselves deeper into a hole of lies. "They are all dead, so we are trying to find someone who knows the way home" I tried, realising how ludicrous our story was becoming. Astoundingly he appeared to believe us, as he stood pondering for a moment, and then smiled. "Well for someone to take you home, they first need to know exactly where home for you is?"

"I don't know how to explain. I swear we've been cursed" Evie grumbled metaphorically, but the man turned to look at her, his expression suddenly deadly serious. "Cursed, by whom? I witch or wizard? Are they keeping you from you home?"

We gaped at him, as I tried to work out whether I should stomp on Evie's head or hug her; could this new development be to our advantage?

Apparently Evie thought so as she tried a delicate smile, "That's right, we have been cursed although we don't know by whom, they transported us here and we have no way of going back to the place we came from, which is far indeed."

"If magic brought you here, magic can put you back." The man told us, and I realised that the peoples superstition in magic could perhaps help us.

The man seemed to reach a decision, as he nodded to himself and focused back on us. "My name is Tarren, and I am travelling towards Camelot bearing news for the King, I can take you there, and perhaps his advisor can help you; he is a magician, but one who is a force of good, Merlin they call him, and if anyone can help you it is he."

Evie and I turned to one another thoughtfully, it was not as if magic existed, but since magic was just another word for unexplained science in our minds, perhaps this Merlin would know something of black holes and time-travellers. It was a long shot, but we had few other options. Whether we could trust Tarren or not was another matter, but surely it was safer to travel with someone then alone with little direction; we would just have to be careful around him.

Evie and I nodded to one another, clearly on the same mind track, and turned back to Tarren. "Thank you." I said sincerely, "It is nice to meet you Tarren, I am Nikita and this is Evie."

The man-Tarren-I reminded myself, simply nodded. "We will head to Carneddan to pick up supplies, then we will travel on foot to the mountains and then over them to Camelot." Any dreams I had about galloping through fields of sunflowers on a shining white horse abruptly shattered; mercenaries-or whatever Tarren was, clearly couldn't afford horses. Clearly all my daydreams of the Dark Ages from before-as I would begin to call my old life, were hopelessly romanticised. I would have to get used to this strange new world.


	5. A Strange New World

Chapter Three

**A Strange New World**

* * *

"I'm beginning to hate this god-damn village." I spat as we trudged into it for the second time that day, the inhabitants looking at us even more strangely than before. Evie and I stubbornly ignored them, while Tarren glared right back. "Ignore them, they never looked at me quite the same after that bear incident a few years back, as if it was my fault!" He huffed to himself, making me wonder what exactly the 'bear incident' was. Maybe I would find out later.

Tarren went around to numerous stalls buying a few loaves of some sort of coarse dark bread and a large wheel of what I assumed was some type of local cheese. There seemed to be a lack of meat being sold, and I wondered why that was, but felt too stupid to ask. Tarren was buying the goods not with money, but with other goods that he had in a bag slung over his back that I hadn't noticed before. He traded mostly fur skins and what I assumed was leather; I wondered if he was a hunter, is this how he made his living? I decided to ask him at a later date. He also bought two strangely shaped material gourds, which he explained to us were to hold water with as we journeyed, and we were to keep them attached to our belts at all times; the weight of it slapping against the side of my leg felt strange, but I assumed I would become adjusted to it.

I wondered about our clothing-pants and long shirts were hardly thick enough to keep us warm if we were sleeping rough-which is what I assumed we would be doing. But I knew clothes would be expensive, and we had nothing of value on us. I already felt strangely rich with the possessions Tarren had given us, rucksacks of our own, with a woollen blanket inside each. It had never occurred to me how important such simple things could be, nor the satisfaction that accompanied having them, far more so than anything I had owned before; perhaps because I knew them to be truly useful, not just a product of consumerism.

I was torn from my thoughts as Tarren addressed us, "I believe we are done here, we have the basic supplies and can pick up more as we go, let us leave and head east."

We followed Tarren in silence, still contemplating this abrupt turn of events.

Walking is a quiet activity, in that it is one of those few times you need only devote your thoughts to putting on foot in front of the other, and the rest of your mind is free to wander as it likes. It was as we set off, Tarren in front and Evie side by side, that I allowed my thoughts to wander, and realised for the first time how beautiful the landscape was. There was no track to follow, so we simply followed Tarren, who seemed to possess an innate knowledge of where we were. The grass was long and wild; the ground was fairly flat with a few gently rolling hills-nothing too difficult to navigate over. Beside us from time to time a stream wound itself nearby to us, foxgloves were growing alongside the banks of the stream, and all was quiet except for the sound of our breaths, and the birdsong. I caught myself straining my ears to hear a far off lawnmower, or the dull hum of an aeroplane far above-but it was silent. After a few hours my legs began to ache, showing how unused to long distance walking I was, but looking at Evie striding determinedly alongside me, I decided not to complain. We had arrived in this strange place sometime in the early morning, and we only stopped for a break when the sun was high in the sky. Regardless of the wintery season we had felt before, here it seemed like it was summer, as the sun beat down upon us mercilessly. We stopped under the shade of a willow tree by the stream, my stomach grumbling rebelliously. Tarren pulled out one of the dark loaves from his rucksack and the wheel of cheese, he proceeded to rip us off large hunks of the bread, and then passed us both hunks of cheese-cut by what I guessed was a hunting or skinning knife-which we applied to our bread and tucked in with gusto. Although not the type of fare I would usually eat, I found it rather satisfying. We kept walking until the sun was beginning to lower itself in the sky, and I could see my long shadow keeping pace with me. We stopped by the stream-which had widened into a small river by this point-to make camp for the night. Tarren gathered some branches with what little light was left and set about making a fire-a far more difficult exercise than one would think without matches. However Tarren was clearly used to it and we had a small fire going in no time; it not only kept the bulk of the mosquitoes away that had descended with the darkness, but also proved a source of warmth and light. Thankfully with summer it wasn't too chilly, so the prospect of cold food wasn't overly daunting either.

Sleeping on the ground felt strange, I was glad of the blanket wrapped around myself, but I still did not have the best of sleeps-the ground was cold and hard, nothing like the bed I was used to. I wondered then, if I would ever get home to my soft bed and everything I knew. It was during the dark hours of the night that I truly realised my tenuous position in this unfamiliar world, and how alone we really were. I silently cried myself to sleep that night, and would do so for many more.

* * *

I know, not a very happy chapter, but how would you feel in the same situation?

Please Review, it inspires me!


	6. Adjusting

**Note: **I don't know if it will be helpful or not, but because I'm not so good at describing people, I'm going to upload some links to my profile of what I imagine my characters to look like-they will just be random photos off the net, nothing spectacular, just thought it might help!

* * *

Chapter Four

**Adjusting**

* * *

I woke early; the sun sky was greying on the horizon as the world tilted towards the sun. It was the birdsong that woke me, loud but somehow soothing; lying awake listening to the birdsong in the early hours of the morning was not something I had bothered doing for a long, long time. The next few days followed in the same pattern; sometimes I felt like we weren't going anywhere, for we passed few defining landmarks. However Tarren forged steadily ahead, and on the third day, we reached another village. Tarren called it Y Dref Fawr which I didn't even attempt to pronounce, and promptly forgot; Welsh names were bizarre. It was a slightly larger village then the last one we had frequented, comprising of about twenty buildings including what appeared to be a pub.

Tarren picked up some more food supplies-more bread and cheese, I could barely contain my excitement-and gave Evie and I a few coins to purchase some simple woolen clothing each, as it would make us stand out less and most importantly in my mind-wouldn't smell like my clothes were beginning to. I was surprised at the coinage, until then I had assumed there was no currency, only a barter system, but now I revised my beliefs-perhaps coins were simply uncommon among farmers and suchlike

. I was understandably guilty about taking coin from Tarren, after all he was already doing so much for us, but I had little other choice.

Evie grinned in delight, "New clothes!"

I rolled my eyes, "Somehow I don't think it will be quite like the shopping we are used to."

Evie shrugged, "New clothes and new clothes." I think she revised her sentiment after we had to settle for two long dresses coloured a drab brown that smelt faintly of goat and scratched to touch. The woman who sold them to us left a lasting impression on my mind, she only middle-aged, but she had very few teeth and those she did have were an interesting shade of brown. So far, the dental hygiene I had seen was about on par with personal hygiene-Tarren wiped his teeth with a cloth each night and often chewed wild rosemary when he could find it, he also washed his face in river water every morning, but laughed at the idea of bathing every day, or even once a week.

Clearly not everyone cared about hygiene, but this was taking it to a whole new level. Unable to stop staring at her teeth, we quickly changed behind a rough curtain she had erected for changing purposes-perhaps the first changing room in history, I thought idly-and we left as fast as we could, meeting up with Tarren outside the pub, where he was staring longingly into the darkness within. "I could use a drink" Tarren murmured wistfully.

"And dinner?" Evie asked hopefully.

Tarren turned to look at us, his eyebrows raised, "You want to go in there?"

I frowned, perhaps this was some type of gender etiquette we had yet to learn.

"Is that wrong?" Evie asked nervously.

Tarren shrugged, "The tavern is mostly a man's place, apart from the whores, that's in the city of course, in the villages it doesn't matter so much, after all, women are allowed to enjoy ale once in a while too." He smiled, "so why not, I bet you haven't seen a proper Albionic pub yet, so I may as well be the one to introduce you. Ye shan't get bothered in there with me around, but make sure you stay close; taverns always hold questionable characters." With those words of warning, he strode through the doorway, leaving me wondering if Albionic meant English, but I quickly filed the thought aside for later consideration and followed Tarren and Evie into the tavern.

For the first time in that world, I smelled meat, and it almost made me drool. Walking into the tavern, I was hit by a wave of smells; unwashed body odour, beer and meat being among the most prominent. Once my eyes had adjusted, I saw a flickering fire set in a stone hearth against one wall, rushes were spread across the floor and low wooden benches and roughly hewn tables were strewn haphazardly throughout the room. It was late afternoon, and many of the farmers must have come in off their fields, as the room was packed with men and a few women, nursing beers and eating food. Tarren seated us in one of the darker corners of the room, himself on the outside, almost as a wall of protection. I wasn't quite sure whether to be excited or scared at this strange place.

Shortly after, a serving girl walked over and asked us what we wanted, Tarren ordered himself mead, and Evie and I one to share, and then to our delight also ordered what he called meat stew. He handed over a few coins to the buxom young lady and she quickly left.

I stared after her, was she one of the whores Tarren had talked of, or just a serving girl? Abruptly I wondered if the back room of the tavern was some kind of whore-houses, but I dismissed the idea; the town was so small, it was doubtful.

I realised suddenly that Evie was talking to Tarren, and I tuned in.

"-exactly is in this meat stew?" Evie was asking carefully.

Tarren shrugged, "Whatever they caught in the past few days, rabbit probably." With the knowledge that I wouldn't be consuming animal organs or other unmentionables, I perked up, suddenly excited about the prospect of hot fare.

It was quickly served up to us, steaming dark stew in wooden bowls and large tankards of mead. The stew was good, in a homely sort of way, as for the mead, it was as if someone had taken beer and mixed in tar; heavy dark and somewhat disgusting. I choked on my first gulp, causing Tarren to slap my back heartily-it didn't help. I glared at his grinning face, my own expression grim. "You are a terrible person" I informed him.

If anything, his grin grew wider, "I'll drink to that!" He exclaimed, and downed his own drink, groaning appreciatively.

I handed the tankard to Evie, who eyed it apprehensively before taking a sip. She frowned, "I actually kind of like it." She said, making Tarren choke in surprise. It was my time to grin; Evie always could draw the best reactions from people.

It was a pleasant evening, however it was not to last as Tarren looked up from his second pint of mead and frowned, "That man has been watching us for over two hours" he murmured, surreptitiously pointing to the far left corner of the room.

My stomach gave a nervous swoop as I looked over and saw a tall, slender man with black curly hair and a trimmed beard staring at us with dark eyes; he was probably in his early thirties, and had an eastern look about him. He also looked dangerous.

I swallowed nervously, looking at Tarren for advice. "What do we do?"

Tarren shrugged, "We wait him out. If he has business with us, he will come to us." The man seemed to somehow know we were talking about him, as without breaking eye contact with us, he slowly rose and began to head our way. I couldn't help but notice the long sword that was buckled to his side, slowly swinging in tandem with his stride as he drew closer.

* * *

Yay my first proper cliffhanger! And then next chapter you get to meet the tall dark stranger!


	7. Zane

Chapter Seven

**Zane**

* * *

_Fate eyed death distrustfully, "You shouldn't play the rook. It's unreliable."_

_Death would have shrugged, if such a motion were possible of him. "We shall see."_

* * *

He loomed over us, an attempt of a smile upon his lips-it made him look pained. "Good evening friend. I wondered if you had news from the north." He largely ignored us and focused on Tarren. I felt offended, but half understood that this was normal here-men talk, women stay silent.

Tarren was examining the man critically, and I wondered if he felt as alarmed as I. "I am afraid I bring no news, I haven't been that way in a few years. Do you have any news of the king?" He spoke cordially, but gave away little.

The man inclined his head, his eyes sharp-I doubt he had missed that fact either. "No news is perhaps good news, alas I have heard little word from Camelot, I journey there now; if the king has plans for another war, I want to hear of it. Where do you travel?"

"Camelot" said Evie impetuously, annoyed at being so blatantly ignored. I almost groaned out loud. Now the odious man knew our destination it could only go downhill-and it did so, rather rapidly.

"Excellent!" the man exclaimed, "we should all travel together. The women need the protection, and I could do with some company, what do you say?"

Tarren looked somewhat uncomfortable, a frown marring his usually cheerful face; there was no polite way to refuse. "Perhaps we could travel together for a time, for as long as we go the same way, or until one of us changes pace." It was a diplomatic answer, no promises were held in his sentence.

The stranger attempted another smile before giving Tarren a nod, perhaps as a gesture of respect. "I am called Zane."

Tarren also inclined his head. Definitely respect I thought, or at least politeness. "My name is Tarren."

Zane nodded, a strange expression upon his face as he replied, "An honor to meet you."

And so we gained a companion, however unwillingly. I couldn't help but wonder what his ulterior motive was; the unpleasant expression on his face left me no qualms in disliking him-he surely wasn't coming with us for the good company.

Evie held out her hand for him to shake, and then dropped it as he stared at her confused, I wondered for a second if he had thought she wanted him to kiss it, and felt a hysterical giggle well up inside me. Evie stiffly introduced herself, and then me, as I had not bothered to do so. Zane simply nodded in our direction, not bothering with words, it was clear he couldn't care less.

I sighed, thinking about how avoidable the whole situation could have been, had Evie kept her mouth shut. She and I would be having words later, I decided.

The entirely awkward situation was somewhat diffused by Tarren standing, I noticed that he was a few inches taller than the dark haired man, and felt a surge of satisfaction that Tarren at least, could look down upon Zane.

"It is too late to travel onwards now, we shall simply camp on the outskirts of the village, will you join us?" Tarren asked politely.

Zane looked at him for a moment, his expression unreadable, before he shook his head. "I will secure a room here for the night, and meet you on the outskirts in the morning. I bid you good night." And without further ado, he turned and went to talk to the bar keep, to purchase a room I assumed.

Tarren stared after him frowning, "we will have to watch that one" he said quietly, and I nodded, glad I wasn't the only one who suspected his less-than-sincere smiles.

We did not talk or bother to make a fire that night, simply dumped our bags beside us and curled up in our blankets. I was close enough to Evie that I could whisper to her without attracting Tarren's attention.

"Why did you tell him where we were going?" I hissed, feeling the anger bubble up inside me again.

"I don't know, I did it without thinking! I was trying to get rid of him I thought once he found out or destination he would leave us alone! I didn't think he'd be going there too, I'm sorry."

I sighed, trying to let my anger go; it would have been too easy to hold on to. "I just don't like him, but I guess there isn't anything we can do now, maybe next time just think before you tell strangers things" I told her in the nicest possible way.

Evie sighed quietly into the dark, "I know. It was stupid. I want to go home."

We hadn't really talked about it since our arrival, and I had been beginning to think that the entire topic was taboo. "I know me too. I don't really know what to do, we have no idea of how to go home so the safest thing is to continue with Tarren, at least he knows what he is doing, and that way we aren't alone."

"I like Tarren, he's really kind." Evie murmured, her voice becoming drowsy, and I knew she was on the edge of falling asleep.

"He is." I agreed. "We were very lucky he came across us. Now we just have to hope he can somehow lead us home." My reply was met by silence, and I knew Evie was asleep.

The morning brought with it the unwanted companion Zane, who hovered around us like a dark cloud until we were ready to leave and had begun the long walk for the day. Now that I had time to surreptitiously study him, I realised he was younger than I had first thought, probably in his late twenties, around the same age as I assumed Tarren was. He also seemed to wish to impress Tarren, as he constantly fell in step with him and regaled him with tales of his successes.

It made me suddenly glad that Zane had shown no interest in us, as I had no wish to listen to such blather. I rolled my eyes at Evie and she grinned back, as we eyed Tarren who was nodding patiently to yet another of Zane's tales-this one involving an army of bandits that he had faced and beaten. "How long do you think Tarren will last?" Evie murmured to me.

I shrugged, "another half hour?"

I was wrong; Tarren lasted the whole day, although he rarely reacted to Zane, most often ignoring him as one would a particularly irritating fly, however this just seemed to make Zane more determined, or perhaps he was simply so full of himself he hadn't realised Tarren was not listening.

For the first time since the beginning of the journey, I found myself praying for the sun to go down faster, instead of wanting to go as far as possible-and thus reach our destination faster, I simply wanted to sleep so that I would no longer have to hear Zane's voice. I glanced at Evie, and from the glare she was directing at Zane's back, I knew I wasn't the only one feeling that way.

However instead of stopping next to the river we had been following that day like we usually would, Zane suggested we head on, as the next village was only another ten minute walk, and he wanted a hot meal.

Upon Tarren coldly informing him that we did not have the coin for such a thing, Zane carelessly told him that he would pay for all of us.

To my surprise, Tarren agreed, perhaps his sense of goodwill had faded around Zane, as he seemed to not care that he was blatantly taking advantage of our companion's money. I absently wondered if we could 'accidently' leave Zane in the tavern and go on without him.

We reached the village without mishap, and entered the tavern located squarely in the middle of the village; it was a large wooden structure, and hanging from the door there hung haphazardly a sign with a picture of a badger leaning on a barrel drawn crudely on it. "The badger barrel?" I tried, making Tarren snort. "The Drunken Badger" He corrected me, as if it was a far more respectable name, before entering the establishment.

We took the seating in the corner and by the door of the room, and were soon dining on hot broth and thick slabs of fresh bread; it was heaven. I felt a surge of gratitude towards Zane, and against my better judgment, I thanked him.

He looked at me in such surprise, I momentarily wondering if he had expected us to be unable to string coherent sentences together, we were _females _after all, I thought acidly.

He pursed his lips, "It is a knight's duty to give to those who have less than him, and to protect the weak." I didn't know whether to be impressed or insulted.

"And do you wish to be a knight?" Tarren probed.

The hint of what may have been a blush, or simply the glow of the fire upon his skin appeared upon his cheeks, and he shrugged. "It is a noble pursuit; perhaps Camelot will help me along the way."

I wondered if there was some hope for him after all, but this quickly faded as he eyed Evie and I for the first time with interest. "And where are the women going, what is your purpose of your journey?" he addressed Tarren, but did not take his calculating eyes from us.

Tarren was saved from answering, as the door of the tavern swung open, and a group of five men came carousing in. I would have paid them no mind, but next to me I saw Tarren stiffen, his gaze fixed on the newcomers with an expression upon his face I had not seen before.

It was hatred.

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Review please!


	8. The Past

__I know it's been absolutely ages. Uni has been a bit mad with assignments due, I also had a serious case of writers block. Happily (or not so happily) it's mid-semester break and I have bronchitis so I don't have much to do except lie around and write when I get horribly bored, so hopefully the next chapter should be up soon!

And to make up for the wait, this is a very looong chapter, over 2,500 words! Enjoy and please review :)

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Chapter Eight

**The Past**

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For the first time since meeting Tarren, I was afraid of him. I stared at him trying to work out what was going on, I wondered if I should alert our companions to Tarren's anger, but the decision was taken out of my hands as Evie looked at Tarren.

"Tarren?" She asked hesitantly, causing Zane to stop staring at us, and turn his eyes back to the giant man.

Tarren spoke through clenched teeth, his eyes burning holes in the backs of the rowdy men.

"We must leave." There was no explanation, just a simple command, but it was perhaps one of the most confusing things I have heard in my life. Why did Tarren want us to leave so suddenly? Who were those men that they could make Tarren- so easy-going that he didn't even snap at Zane-suddenly blaze with an anger that I had never seen on anyone before.

"What?" Zane asked.

Tarren shrank further back in the shadows as one of the men glanced in our direction, he was a thickly built but going to fat man who was gulping down ale as if it were his last drink on earth, but apart from this I saw no obvious problem with him.

"They must not see me; else we will all be killed. I will explain later, just follow me." He stood and quickly faced so his back was to the group of men, his face hidden. Moving with agility that his size belayed, he made his way to the door. I couldn't help myself but glance towards the mysterious men as I made my way out. Three of them looked like mercenaries or manservant's-not that I had much experience with that sort of thing, but they were wearing the same simple clothing as Tarren. The fourth man was larger and clearly in control of the group, he was the one I had noticed before, and was wearing so much finery I guessed he must be a lord. However it was the fifth man who struck me the most. He was younger, in his mid or late twenties perhaps, with black hair falling about his shoulders and piercing grey eyes. It was as I surveyed the group as I turned to leave that he turned his head and regarded me at the same moment. I felt a lurch within the pit of my stomach, and it wasn't all due to fear. I was strangely attracted to the man, perhaps his air of mystery or just the danger that seemed to surround him made my heart beat quicker for all the wrong reasons.

And then it was over as the second passed, and I stepped outside the door, feeling the man's gaze burning into my back, but did not turn, wondering all the while if it were simply my imagination.

My eyes took a minute to adjust to the darkness, I could just make out Tarren who was already striding away, and Zane who looked bewildered but was following uncomplaining. Having no other viable options open to me, I also followed.

"What is going on!" Evie panted, just in front of me.

Tarren threw her a glance but did not answer.

We quickly left the tavern-and consequently the village, behind as we made short work of the roughly beaten track. We walked in this matter for about an hour, in the pitch darkness, before Tarren called everyone to a halt.

I flopped down on the damp grass by the road side, exhausted. A full day's walk followed by a terror inducing night had done nothing for my less than fit body, and I was inordinately happy to collapse along the wayside.

Unsurprisingly, it was Zane that demanded an answer for Tarren's peculiar behaviour.

Tarren shook his head solemnly. "They are from my past, and as long as they did not see us, they will trouble us no more. Please do not ask me to speak further; it is not something I wish to remember."

Although the whole episode made me entirely uncomfortable-and left Zane spluttering angrily and being dismissed so easily-it also made Tarren more human in my eyes. No longer was he some impenetrable and immovable force, he was simply a man, with his own secrets, and just like us, his own unspeakable past.

The silence lasted until Evie became bored, upon which our companions resumed their usual mannerisms-good cheer on Tarren's part, and an irritating disinterest on Zane's.

It was difficult to tell how far we went each day, the landscape slowly changed around us as the hours passed, and Tarren seemed pleased with our progress. As dusk approached, we stopped for a few minutes rest by a large river, to refill our water skins and relax our aching legs.

Tarren stretched loudly and then pointed to the hill that loomed in front of us. "Beyond that hill is the town of Shrewsbury, it is fairly large as these places go, and I want to spend as little time there as possible; it is not known as the thieves' paradise for nothing."

I almost groaned, so close to civilisation, and yet so damn far.

The town proved to be mostly a fortified castle with a surrounding village. I had never seen a castle in such good condition before-it helped that I wasn't looking at it hundreds of years after its last occupation-nonetheless, for the first time, I felt the stirrings of excitement. Of course this was all an awful nightmare and I couldn't wait to get home, but for the first time I began to realise how oddly lucky I was. I was the first person to ever experience the medieval world-I was seeing things which in my time could only be conjectured about. I could experience first-hand their diet, religion, even their clothing style-it was all before me plain to see. Perhaps when I went home I could even write a book about my discoveries-my excitement died suddenly, as I realised it was more if-rather than when, I managed to get home. Regardless, my interest had been piqued and I began to see our journey as less of a punishment, and more as an experience of a lifetime.

I looked again at the castle, trying not to gape in amazement; for a time without modern machinery, people were surprisingly skilled and constructing monoliths. The building in question was made of solid reddish stone, from afar it looked like one huge piece carved into the countryside, but I guessed it would be made up of individual blocks. Darker slits riddled across the walls came as a subtle reminder that the castle wasn't all for show-these arrow slits had a very functional purpose indeed. There were watchtowers placed at certain points along its high walls, and a larger building at the entrance served at what I guessed was the keep. It was here that a large portcullis stood the only visible entrance in and out of the imposing structure. A fluttering in the breeze caught my eyes, and I could just make out a red flag with the sigil of a white stag upon it. I wondered what it meant.

I looked over to see Evie too, was staring at the castle longingly. "can we stay there?" She asked hopefully, although it was clear she was mostly joking.

Tarren turned, a smilingly retort already on his lips, when Zane interrupted. "Splendid idea. Lords are usually friendly to those who carry news from afar."

"What news do we carry?" Evie asks in confusion, even as Tarren was already shaking his head. "I would not venture in there Zane, one never knows the mentality of the noble within-they are often cruel and witless beings."

I thought this was rather harsh, but from what I had seen, Tarren seemed to speak from experience.

Zane shrugged, "You fear too much Tarren, I have stayed in these places before, they are good Christian men, and with my standing, I shall secure us all a place to stay." He lofty words gave me the urge to kick him somewhere painful, but instead I glared at him behind his back. What standing was he talking about anyway? Wasn't he simply a warrior or from the looks of things, mercenary?

Tarren seemed to consider this too, as he stopped to look at Zane, his brows knit in confusion. "What standing is this?"

Zane had the decency to look a little embarrassed, and shrugged. "Nothing much to speak of, however my father is Sir Bedivere, although I was born from an eastern whore." He said the last words coldly, as if disgusted at his bastard heritage.

Tarren raised his eyebrows, surprised. "Then you are the half brother of Amren? Are you recognised?"

By this point I was totally lost; I knew Bedivere was one of the knights of King Arthur, but that was as far as my knowledge went, Zane however, seemed to know what Tarren meant.

"Of a sort, I am known in noble's circles, and have made a name for myself as a warrior; Amren provides me with yearly coin, but my father has little interest in me." His bitterness was clear, and I found myself surprised; perhaps Zane's prickly attitude was completely due to his character, but to do with his situation.

Tarren nodded his eyes sharp. "So you wish to go to Camelot to show your mettle and follow in your father's footsteps."

This time I was certain of the blush that crept up on Zane's cheeks, and I smirked, feeling vindicated.

Zane as usual, attempted to take control of the situation. "It matters little, my point was my name is enough to be known in most castles, and certainly enough to get us rooms in at least the servants quarters, perhaps even put up at the inn?"

Tarren tugged his beard uncertainly, "I still believe that it is best to err on the side of caution, let us simply go to the inn at once, if you have the ample coin you say you do."

Zane stared Tarren down for a second, his face expressionless, and then nodded. "As you wish" and he gave the bigger man an ironic bow. However as we headed towards the outlying village, I couldn't help but notice the crafty expression in Zane's eyes, nor the small twist at the corner of his lips as he looked at Tarren's back. I suddenly felt that this discussion was far from over.

The tavern was large and perhaps a little cleaner-if rather busier than those we had been to before. It was also quite clearly, a whorehouse. The inn seemed to be split into three parts, the downstairs was clearly a tavern, where ale and food was served. There were to staircases leading upstairs, one was devoid of life, and I guessed this was the side where travellers would stay; the other staircase however was rather different. Not only were some rather awkward noises filtering down from the floor above, but upon the stairs a few women in low-cut gowns were loitering, smiling at any man who wandered past. I didn't have much experience with whorehouses, but I wasn't stupid; this was clearly one.

Evie was blushing red, and so too, to my surprise, was Tarren. He turned to us looking bashful, "I am beyond sorry, If I had but known the business of this premises..."

I shrugged. "It's disgusting, but they have appealing food" I pointed out logically.

Zane was smiling, "That's not the only thing that's appealing" he muttered.

I fought the urge to gag, wondering how many diseases the women would have, then remembered that hygiene and any knowledge of it was rather lacking at this time. I absently wondered if I could 'accidently' stick my fork in Zane's hand when he wasn't looking.

Surprisingly, I wasn't the only one who was disgusted.

Evie was looking at Zane with her nose wrinkled, "For someone who is so clearly disgusted with their whoring parentage, you seem to like these harlots altogether too much" she murmured sharply. I grinned at her bluntness, only Evie could in a few sharp words; deliver the dismayed thoughts of our entire group.

For a moment I thought Zane would hit, and I felt a thump of panic in my chest, but then he turned away without answering, and walked over to the barman.

Tarren shook his head, "That wasn't clever Evie, do not bait a man who's mettle we do not yet know."

Evie shrugged, seemingly unaware of the danger, "He deserved it" she muttered mulishly.

Tarren's stern expression twitched, "Regardless, we must learn some patience with this man until we can be rid of him."

My hopes rose, "When will that be?"

"Perhaps in the next few days, if it continues like this."

Zane stalked back to us, his face once again expressionless. "I have secured us all rooms, the girls in one, and Tarren and I in the room next door. If we seat ourselves, we shall soon be fed."

Stomach grumbling, I couldn't help but feel somewhat grateful for Zane's coin providing us with hot food.

We turned in early, still unused to the long days walking we had been experiencing, and left Tarren and Zane happily drinking and playing some sort of dice game. Although the bed I shared with Evie was filled with some type of bug that made me itch like crazy-bedbugs, I thought with horror, and then desperately tried to ignore the idea-I still slept soundly, grateful for a soft bed.

We all awoke late the next day, sometime around nine I guessed from the position of the sun, and were soon knocking on Tarren's door, ready to leave. He opened the door blearily and yawned, "time to go?" he asked, and received a nod for his troubles

I scratched irritably, in daylight the little red dots covering my body made me cringe in disgust; I couldn't wait to find a river to drown myself in.

Tarren nodded, "I'll be right down, you get yourself something to eat, Zane must already be down there" he said, pointing to the empty bed next to him.

Evie and I made our way downstairs into the perpetually dark tavern, Zane was nowhere in sight, so we cautiously made our way to the barkeeper, where Evie enquired after breakfast.

Happily the rotund man readily gave us breakfast, explaining that Zane had paid for it the night before.

I wondered where Zane was-I guessed outside, perhaps answering the call of nature or some suchlike-and dug into my crusty bread with gusto.

A few minutes later Tarren joined us, gulping down yet more ale and munching cheese happily. Once we had finished, Tarren looked around frowning, "Where is Zane?"

I shrugged, "He wasn't here when we came down."

Tarren ambled over to the barkeep and began to question him. "Is our companion around?"

The dwarfish man shook his head, "He left in the night after you had retired, drunk as anything and proclaiming to anyone who would listen that he would show his worth as more than the son of a whore or some suchlike, headed over to the castle to prove his point I believe."

Zane was gone.

* * *

I know, another cliffhanger, I just love them so much! What do you think about Zane's character, I'm finding it very hard to write about him..


	9. The Black Knight

Look how good I am! Two chapters in one day, that must be a record :)

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Chapter Five

**The Black knight**

* * *

_Death smiled as his knight came dangerously close to Fate's king; however she quickly moved it out of harm's way, and the dangerous game continued. _

_Wisdom shook his head. "I don't like this at all. You're becoming too involved, both of you." As usual, Wisdom was steadfastly ignored._

* * *

Tarren groaned and turned back to us. "The fool, our comments must have dug deeper than we thought last night."

Evie looked momentarily shamed, but I could tell she wasn't too displeased about Zane's disappearance; it wasn't as if we actually liked the man.

I felt a small moment of cruel pleasure at the thought of being rid of our dowdy companion, but Tarren's good-natured face had already settled into worry. "He could have simply decided to stay there and sleep his un-doubtable headache off, but I have a bad feeling about it."

Evie shrugged, not looking to worried herself, "what makes you say that?"

Tarren looked uncomfortable, "I didn't want to worry anyone last light, so I made light of the matter, however I have heard about Shrewsbury before, and none of it was good. It's been said when the old lord died, a mercenary took over, and since then travellers have been less than welcome in his fortress."

I felt the first stirrings of worry for our irritating companion, "Less than welcome?"

"You have to understand Nikita that a lord-or one who holds the power of a lord can act however they wish with little retribution, as long as he does not offend another noble, few care for those of lower rank. People like you and I mean nothing in their eyes, and as such, these men of power can get away with nothing short of murder."

"But Zane is the son of some lord isn't he?"

"The unrecognised bastard son. Perhaps to some that means something, but unless you knew Bedivere personally, I doubt many would care."

"Is Zane in danger?" I found myself asking.

"I don't know, He could simply be drunk and happy in some stables or a ditch somewhere, or he could be facing something graver."

"Well what do we do?"

"I do not like the man, especially not in the underhand manner he left us, but he has been generous with his coin, and asked us few questions. I feel that we at least should make sure he is safe, we owe him that I think."

I shouldn't have been, but I was surprised at how much a man of honour Tarren was.

Evie nodded eagerly; it was typical as she was so forgiving, in that way we were almost opposites, I could hold a grudge for years if my pride let me, she had trouble holding one for a day.

"So what's the plan?" I asked.

Tarren shrugged, "go to the castle I suppose, and ask around about Zane. However we shall be on our guard."

I could tell this was probably a bad idea, but I had no idea what we were dealing with and didn't want to leave Zane if he really was in deep trouble.

We slowly made our way up to the castle along a well-worn track, there was a guard at the portcullis, looking entirely bored.

"What's your business?" He asked.

Tarren responded with an easy smile. "We hoped to pick up supplies at the market" he indicated past the guard into the Bailey where I now noticed a group of bustling makeshift stalls stood.

The guard nodded and let us through without further ado.

"Well that was easy" Evie murmured quietly.

"Now we just have to find Zane" Tarren replied in equally low tones.

We asked around at some of the stools, but had no luck, which wasn't surprising if Zane had indeed arrived in the middle of the night, few would have seen him.

After about half an hour of aimless searching, Tarren stopped and sighed. "We have a choice before us, we must either simply continue on without him, or go and see the lord of the castle and ask him where Zane is."

I was torn, I wanted to leave him, even if he was in danger, what could we do? But of course, it was most certainly not the right thing to do, and thus I followed Evie and Tarren's lead with the agreement that we could not abandon us. Even as my own traitorous mind wondered if Zane would really do the same in our place.

As seen as we neared the inner courtyard a man stepped forward and asked what our business was.

Tarren quickly took control. "We are looking for a man named Zane; he is of eastern descent and is believed to have come through here sometime in the night. Due to this, unless you have any information on him, I wish to petition your lord to help us."

The man looked at us as if we had said something amusing, but without comment told us to follow him.

As it turns out, we 'common folk' could actually meet the lord of the area whenever we wanted, although there was certainly segregation of classes, there was also an ancient law that stated that peasants had the right to petition to the local lord if they needed help. Of course, what the lord did then was entirely up to them.

We were lead into the mail hall, a dais lead up to a heavy stone chair, almost like a throne. To either side large wooden tables sat heavy with food. The rough stone flagstones were covered with rushes which although probably fresh, emitted a repulsive smell. A troubadour stood in front of the dais attempting to play to the clearly disinterested nobility. Seated upon the throne was a slim middle aged man with a mane of shaggy auburn hair, although his features were non-descript, he was wearing a suit of armour that could not be forgotten, it was a solid pitch black. It was so dark and polished it almost looked like it was made of obsidian; I wondered how it was made, and more importantly what it meant. I looked to Tarren and noticed how he too, seemed fixated on the armour, he looked pale and disturbed, and I wondered if he recognised it.

The man looked up at us with interest in his eyes as we entered."My name is Lord Gabriel, what do you seek here?" He called out, his voice loud, echoing around the large hall. The troubadour's last notes dwindled out awkwardly in the ensuring silence.

"My name is Tarren; I come here searching for my lost companion, Zane."

The man's face redden in anger, "The drunkard from last night!? You are his companion?"

I had a bad feeling about this, but Tarren stood steadfast. "We are indeed and come inquiring after his well-being" It wasn't very noticeable, but if one looked, it was clear that Tarren held a strong distain for nobles such as this.

Perhaps the man wasn't as mediocre as he looked as he too, appeared to pick up on this. "That man was caught trying to sneak into my _wife's _chamber in the middle of the night. I had him thrown in the dungeons until he comes to his senses and can explain himself. Perhaps you can help him set his story straight." He made a small gesture with his hand, and three guards came towards us indicating we were to follow them.  
There was little we could do as we were lead, unbelieving, under the bowels of the castle into the dungeons, taking Tarren's weapons as they did so.

The thing about dungeons is that they're unpleasant; I guess they were built that way on purpose. We were I suppose at a small mercy, all put in the same cell, and soon discovered that Zane was within the same room, although he was currently not conscious. I examined our quarters as Tarren attempted to rouse our companion, who incidentally stunk of alcohol doing little to endear himself to me. The dank floor was covered in a strange substance which I couldn't recognize and was too afraid to look at properly; there was a pallet of straw in one corner, an arrow slit served as a thin window although where it led I did not know, and a small wooden bucket sat in one corner, the smell emanating from it leaving me altogether too aware of what its purpose was.

Tarren finally succeeded in waking Zane, who suddenly shot upright, making a grab for his sword which wasn't there.

"The guards took all our weapons" Tarren told him quietly.

In the dim light I could just make out Zane wearily rubbing his face, the last vestiges of sleep quickly falling away. "What happened?"

Evie looked up glaring, she might be the quickest to forgive, but she was also the quickest to anger. "You got yourself drunk, wandered over to the castle like the stuck up buffoon you are, and then proceeded to try and sneak your way into the Gabriel's wife's chambers" she hissed. It was probably the longest speech Zane had ever heard from Evie, and it certainly held his attention.

"I don't remember..." he began, frowning, and then his face slowly turned a bright hue of rose. "I was looking for the stables, to sleep in you see, and then there was this bed, and I thought it would be nice to lie in it..."

"Except the lord's wife was in it too?" Tarren asked archly.

Zane groaned the usually imperturbable mask upon his face was nowhere to be seen; he looked, dare I say, ashamed.

"So let me get this straight, we were thrown in here due to a misunderstanding?" Evie was not pleased.

I looked to Tarren, who always seemed to know what to do. "Now what?"

"That was no ordinary lord. That was the Black Knight."

"The what?" Evie asked, as clueless as me.

"The black knight, so called for his armour and utter lack of morality. They say he takes travelling knights and forces them to fight him-he always wins."

"And the knights?" Evie whispered.

"None have ever survived."

"So, it's a good thing we aren't knights then?" I asked.

"I just don't understand, how does Arthur not know of this? He is hiding in plain sight!" Zane exclaimed.

Tarren shrugged, "It is something he needs to be told. In the meantime, we need to escape, before he tires of us."

I looked around at the uncompromising prison walls; always the persistent, I posed the question. "How would we go about doing that?"

We bounced ideas back and forth, but ultimately had no way of escape; the cell was solid and we had little in the way of siege weaponry.

The hours passed very slowly, all of us lost in contemplation.

I must have drifted off at some point, because the next thing I knew, there was a woman in the cell with me; she was unnaturally tall with fair skin and long dark tresses, however the thing I noticed most the expression on her face, which was unfailing sad as if she was burdened with unspeakable things. She wore a long gown of the palest blue, and it rippled in such a way that it almost seemed like a stream of water, undulating on her body as she moved. I couldn't quite remember when she had arrived, but it didn't seem to matter, the only thing that did was her voice.

"Fate is watching you."

I couldn't stop staring at her, and found no voice within myself to reply, before I could assemble my thoughts, she was speaking again:

'_She made the lives of countless men_

_And ruined those of many more_

_So stranger, pick either now or then_

_But be certain and be sure-_

_For this is a warning to those who choose_

_All may make their choice to squander or learn_

_This is a game of life, in which you win or lose._

_Any can enter, but few may return'_

The words repeated themselves, burning into my brain although I could not discern their meaning.

"I am not meant to dabble in your lives, but I too, have picked my side, and I mean to help, no matter what game fate is playing. One of the faithful will come to you, follow him and he will save your life."

* * *

I'm not to sure if the poem made sense, I'm hoping it did. The line that I couldn't get right, 'pick either now or then' means I suppose, pick to stay in this time, or go back to the future-from there I think the whole thing (hopefully) becomes fairly straightforward! As for 'she' well I think its fairly obvious, but I'm not going to spell it out!

Arrow


	10. Flight

_**I am so sorry for the very long delay in posting, my life got pretty complicated, but I'm back on track! :)**_

* * *

Chapter Six

**Flight**

* * *

Fate cursed as Death yet again thwarted her attempts and moved ever closer to her king.

Death smirked, "Your move."

* * *

"Nikita?" Evie's face was suddenly close to mine as she shook me awake, "Nikita are you alright?"

I nodded, shaking myself out of the bizarre dream; something to puzzle over later-every word was burnt into my brain.

"Someone's coming" Evie whispered in explanation as to why she woke up.

A man dressed in a guard's uniform loomed out of the darkness, carrying a brazier in one hand and a naked sword in the other.

Tarren and Zane both jumped to their feet, looking wary.

For a moment the man said nothing, simply regarding us.

"Well?" said Zane aggressively.

"I am here to get you out" he whispered, and I felt a stab of obscene panic, it was as if my dream was coming true.

Tarren looked at him, his face slowly morphing with hope, tempered only by Zane's expression of distrust.

"Why would you do this, you would put yourself in grave danger, for people you do not even know?"

"Let us just say, something reminded me of what is right. This has gone on too long, the Black Knight's behaviour is unspeakable, and I will no longer stand by and watch."

I wondered what had caused him to change his mind, my thoughts involuntarily flashing to the woman in blue.

The man sheathed his sword for a moment and drew a set of keys from his pocket, and fumble with them into the lock until we heard the satisfying click of the tumblers releasing, causing the door to swing open on its heavy hinges.

We were lucky in that an attack from the inside must have been so unexpected that no guards patrolled the corridors, the stranger explained in a hushed whisper that they were all guarding the walls, as Lord Gabriel was utterly paranoid about an attack. We paused to pick up Tarren and Zane's weapons which had been tossed haphazardly in what I assumed were some sort of armoury. I noticed Zane pocket a couple of knives as he retrieved his sword. I followed the others numbly; too afraid to think, because I knew if I started to reflect on the situation, I would begin imagining what would happen if we were caught. The man led us down a narrow and deserted corridor, his torch only just illuminating the path ahead of us; the moving shadows looked like figures looming out of the dark and caused my no end of nervousness. At last we reached a heavy wooden door which we opened and went through. We found ourselves surprisingly, out in the open air, in a tiny courtyard off to one side of the castle. It didn't look like anyone had been there for a long time as the walls were covered in ivy and there were the remnants of some broken crates jumbled against the wall, slowly rotting away.

Evie opened her mouth, probably about to ask in a very loud voice what we were doing. Instead a muted yelp escaped her mouth as I stood on her foot.

The man ignored our antics, fumbling clumsily with the ivy, until with a small exclamation he pulled aside the greenery to reveal a small wooden door which had been completely hidden a moment before.

Tarren nodded understandingly, even as I stared in surprise.

"The Postern gate" he murmured, as if that explained everything.

It wasn't locked, which also surprised me, but no one else-except Evie-seemed in the least bit puzzled. The wooden door opened to reveal a sliver of moonlight and the outside world.

The door was very slim and probably hardly noticeable from the outside, meaning Tarren had a struggle trying to fit through. We filed through one by one and found ourselves on the backings of a forest behind the castle; it was a perfect escape route and I wondered why it was there.

Our guide stopped on the threshold of the door and nodded, "this is as far as I can go, you must hurry and get as far from here as you can, my lord will be most displeased when he finds of your escape."

"Come with us" Tarren implored him, we were all aware of the danger he was facing by helping us.

The man was already shaking his head, "This is my home, my family live here, and I would not abandon them. It is my duty to stay by them, and to help others like yourself."

If this had been in our time, we would surely have argued, convinced him to come with us, perhaps not even have needed to as he would not place himself in such danger. But as it was Tarren simply nodded, these men were bound by honour and duty; they acted in ways I could not understand due to an inherent sense of something that had been lost by my time.

"Stay off the main roads for the next few days, after that he will give up his search for you, put as much distance between this castle and yourselves as you can tonight." With this advice he stepped back into the castle grounds and was swathed in darkness. I heard the dull thud of the door closing, and then silence.

We all looked at one another for a moment, the moonlight castling deep shadows on the ground beneath us and casting odd patterns on our faces; then Tarren collected himself. "We need to move" he said, and with that we set off, maintaining a fast pace although how he knew which direction to travel in I did not know, I was helplessly disorientated.

I became lost in my thoughts as I thought back to our saviour, and realised with a start that we had never even learnt his name. The man had saved our lives, and I would never be able to thank him, nor put a name to his harrowed face. Fate's servant I thought wryly, almost laughing at myself. I had to wonder who the woman in my dream had represented though, Life perhaps? Hope? I could not fathom why my brain had supplied such strange dreams.

* * *

The next few days were tense, but also rather dull. The only notable occurrence was the character-change Zane appeared to undergo. He no longer bragged to Tarren, clearly embarrassed by his mistakes, he treated me with a little less disdain and Evie with a muted sense of respect, perhaps it had been the first time a female had raised her voice at him. We never spoke of that night again, but I think it remained in all our minds, keeping Zane humble, and I wary. The land soon flattened out and we found ourselves walking on a large plain of brown heather, mountains framing the skyline in the distance. I thought little of it until Evie asked how far we still were from Camelot.

Tarren eyed the mountains speculatively, "Still many days off I am afraid, once we cross this plain there will be a village at the foot of the mountains where we can re-supply, then we can cross the mountains, although we will have to pick up our pace, as the days are beginning to cool."

He was right I realised, the days had been growing shorter, the leaves were beginning to turn colour and I had begun to be glad of the warm fire at nights, yet I had not realised these things were indicators of winter; my mind had been too busy wallowing in self-pity. That was when I decided I needed to stop; either I was going to be stuck here forever and needed to begin to adjust to this life, or I would leave and I should enjoy this unique opportunity while I could. Feeling like a true optimist, I lifted my head and smiled and Zane, grinning inside when he stared back at me in confusion, reflexively looking around in apprehension.

As we came upon the plain and began the long trek across it, I realised it wasn't completely flat as I had initially thought; it was dotted with odd mounds seemingly placed at random but surely too many to be natural. I stared at them wondering, was it some kind of animal infestation and these were their burrows? I turned to Tarren my mouth already half open to ask, when the question died on my lips. He was staring straight ahead with such a somber expression on his face that I could not bring myself to ask. What was he thinking about I wondered, to bring such sorrow to his usually cheerful face. I turned to Evie and subtly nodded my head in our giant friend's direction; she nodded back to me, her own face just as puzzled as mine.

The plain was an eerie place, flat enough that the wind whistled loudly across the ground, whipping at our clothes. It was a never-ending lonely sound that set my teeth on edge, and made us all pick up our pace imperceptibly. It was hard going as the grasses were to our waists and we had no choice but to crash through it, disturbing a number of small birds that resembled wrens into flight as we did so. It was late afternoon before I realised the plain was deceiving to the eye and far larger than it had at first seemed; we would be staying at least one night in this place.

We settled down in a place little different from the rest of the plain, unable to have a fire due to the flammable heather all around us, it was a miserable night; the sky was clear and the stars shone more brightly than ever, but it was cold and dark, and our fare was little better. It was only as a settled myself cross-legged on my cloak which also doubled as my blanked that I began to have an inkling of what this plain really was. It was as I leaned back that my tailbone dug into something sharp and I shot up with an involuntary groan. Evie turned to me quizzically, 'Doing alright there?" she asked, a trace of a smile on her face.

I turned frowning to see the offending object, and was surprised when I found it to be what looked like the remains of a rusting sword, jaggedly broken in half.

"What an earth is that doing here?" Evie put words to my confusion.

Tarren sighed, "A long time ago, over ten years now, a great battle was fought here. Thousands lost their lives and were buried in the cairns you see dotting this plain; others were left to rot where they fell, the pieces of weapon and armour you find around you is all that is left of them."

I shuddered and dropped the broken weapon, the eerie feel to this place and the numerous mounds finally making sense.

"What happened?" Evie asked, ever inquisitive.

When King Uther, the father of our good King Arthur sat upon the throne, the lands were often in turmoil as the lords rebelled, a particularly vicious and powerful one went to war against the king, and this was the result."

"So the king won?"

"Aye, the lords were defeated, the king secure in his position once again, until his death and Arthur was found. There has been no war since this one, and I pray that is how it remains."

Zane sighed, "You know well as I, rebellion is stirring."

Tarren shrugged uncomfortably, "we shall see."

The matter seemed closed, but still I wondered. What happened to the defeated lords? Why was rebellion stirring once again? Would there be another war?

The night passed slowly, the moaning of the wind keeping me awake not helped by the cold and darkness; I missed our little campfire.

* * *

The wolves were a wakeup call for me. A pack of them came upon on us as evening as the light was fading the next evening; we heard them first, mournful howl echoing across the plain, sending shivers up my spine. I rubbed my arms, feeling my goose bumps.

"What was that?" I asked, fairly sure of the answer.

"Wolves" Tarren answered grimly.

"They won't come near us though will they? I mean, they are afraid of humans…and fire!" I scrabbled with the many useless facts in my head to try and squash my fear.

Zane's face was forbidding as he scanned the barely visible landscape in the near darkness, "a hungry pack of wolves with winter closing in? They will be desperate enough for anything"

The howls sounded out again, sounding closer this time, though the echoes made it hard to tell.

I glanced around at the never-ending plain, there was no shelter in sight and I felt horribly exposed.

"What are we going to do? Will they find us?" Evie looked just as terrified as I, she was clutching my arm perhaps unconsciously, I took comfort in her touch and clung to her. Although we had been in danger before, this was a new type of fear; it was something more akin to terror, more desperate and primal. The idea of those ferocious beasts descending upon us left me shaking and unable to think.

We could be torn to pieces and harmed, we could die here. I wondered wildly, and not for the first time if this was all some awful dream; where we trapped somehow in our own minds? If we died here, would our broken bodies appear at home, or would we be lost forever?

Tarren snapped me out of it, as he began searching wildly in the heather, and after a moment was joined by Zane.

"Look for any time of wood you can find!" Tarren called, "We will have to try and frighten them away with fire"

"You said that wouldn't work!" I cried accusingly at Zane, who paused a moment in his frantic search to look at me expressionlessly, "well pray that it does" he told me darkly before resuming his search.

I felt something cold drop in the pit of my stomach and in the moment knew what true terror, true fear was. The moment when you want to run and run and save yourself and leave all else behind if only to make yourself safe.

Then I glanced over at Evie and saw her looking as terrified as I felt. Her face had a pale, pinched look about it that I didn't like. It was as if the events of the past few days had taken their toll on her, she looked...tired. Her eyes held some measure of misery that made me wonder if mine also held that strange look which gave me a desperate feeling of hopelessness, like all the world was against us and there was nothing we could do. I knew there was no point in running then, and would not run unless Evie was sprinting alongside me.

I turned my eyes back to Tarren and Zane's search for wood and quickly joined in; it was no use however, there was nothing but scrub and grass and rocks all around us.

"There is nothing!" Zane cried in anger.

"We cannot fight an entire pack with only two swords to our company" Tarren hissed, and Zane nodded back, his face as expressionless as usual.

"There is little use in running, they will outpace us."

"Set fire to the heather" Tarren murmured grimly "it will buy us a little time"

"And draw them right to us!"

"What choice do we have?"

I watched the exchange, frightened and feel horribly useless. I could not lift a sword or fight, I was dead weight and so was Evie. Without these two companions we would be good as dead, and even with them, our prospects did not look hopeful.

Tarren turned to us, jaw clenched. "We burn the plain, and then we run."

Tarren and Zane set about feverishly making fire, and spreading it to the grasses on one side of us. It occurred to me for the first time that if the wolves did not get kill us, the fire very well might.

We waited a moment to make sure the fire had truly caught, and then we fled.

We ran as if we had the very demons of hell snapping at our heels and indeed it felt like we did, echoing howls and the crackling of fire dogged our footsteps and made us run all the quicker, but we were all aware that the wolves were gaining on us. No longer were they simply disembodied howls but I could hear them crashing in the grass behind us, hear their yips as they encountered their fire, and I was sure above my own gasps that I could hear their desperate panting as their quarry tired-as we tired.

And then they were upon us.

* * *

Thoughts? Like it? Hate it? Let me know!


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